Makeup Behind the Instagram

Anyone who says climate change is a myth is a moron. All you have to do is look outside to see the effect of it. Over the course of a week the UK has had a snow blizzard which then combined with a storm to make the UK an unworkable mess. As soon as the snowflakes stopped falling the weather seemed to correct itself and dumped us right back into Spring. By no means is it warm but it is a lot warmer than when the snow was here.

Like most people my make up look is affected by the weather. The weather changes our mood and our overall outlook and therefore affects the way you want to present yourself. During Winter I embrace my pale skin and tend to wear a berry lipstick. For Spring I prefer something lighter; usually pink/plum shades on the eye with a taupe nude brown on the lips, whilst having a little bit more glow to my skin. I don't sit down and think 'oh it is time to change my look,' I just find myself reaching for different products from my make up draw. Therefore it is an unconscious change. On all of my social media I uploaded a new picture and I thought I would take you through the products I used to get me looking that good as it is essentially my Spring make up look.

Base Products

One thing that never really changes about my make up is my base products. I tend to stick to what I know as finding a good base product can be hard. I always start with my concealer. I know most people say you should do foundation and then concealer, but I use quite a yellow concealer to help counteract redness and my dark circles under my eyes so it wouldn't necessarily sit well on top of my foundation. I have been using the MAC Studio Finish Concealer in the shade NC20 for quite a while, this is actually my second pot of it. I have always preferred a pot concealer as it is thicker and helps to cover my redness. Over the top of the concealer I used my favourite foundation, Estee Lauder Double Wear in 2N1 Desert Beige. Once again a product I have been using for years and I know it is trustworthy. It is a semi-matte finish, which lasts all day and it is a good colour match. Plus it has SPF in it. I had used the Pixi Glow Tonicthe night before and after using an acid you should always use as much SPF as you can because acids make your skin more susceptible to sun damage. To lock everything in place I dusted over some of the La Mer Loose Powder. I like the La Mer powder but unless you are using it to bake, it is not worth the money.

To bronze up my face, as there is nothing better than a healthy glow, I used Benefit Hoola. This is the first ever bronzer I have hit pan on which is a sign of how much I love it. Benefit Hoola definitely has cult product status but a lot of people I know don't like it as they say it goes patchy. These particular friends are beautifully tanned anyway but for me I find if I tap off any excess before I use it, I am fine. Some days I look at myself and it does look patchy but no one has a good make up day everyday. I use a big cheek brush just to dust the bronzer over my cheeks and a smaller brush around my temples and forehead to take my 5 head to a 3 head.

I wanted to keep the look quite bronze so I didn't want to use too much blush. I used At Dusk which is in the MACSweet Peach Face Compactwhich was launched a few years ago. This is quite a weird formula, not quite a powder but too thick to be anything else. It potentially was a gel formula at some point which makes it hard to pick up too much product and means it is perfect for when I only want a tiny amount of blush. This gives a lovely wash of light pink to the cheeks without being too much. I love this blush and I really wish MAC would launch it as a permanent product.

I never bother with contouring as on a day-to-day basis I can never get it to look good so I have given up on it. The bronzer gives me a soft definition and that will have to do. Even though I don't contour, I do love a highlight and on this day I decided more is more. I started off by using my MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush which gave a subtle highlight but I took a look at myself in the mirror and decided I needed more so I got my Fenty Beauty Highlight duo out. I have the colour combination of Lightning Dust/Fire Crystal. I've been reluctant to use it as I hit pan so quickly and I absolutely love it but as it was my Birthday week I thought I would use it. I used a combo of both shades and I was glowing for the gods.

Eyes Once my base was finished I moved on to my eyes. This is where the big change comes in. Eye shadow is one of the easiest product to use to change up a look. I always start by priming my lids and to do that I have been using the Make Up For Ever Aqua Eye Cream in 13. I actually don't like this product but I am trying to use it up before I buy anything else. For eyeshadow I actually used two palettes as one on its own just isn't enough! I started with the Tarte Tease Palette which is easily my all time favourite Tarte palette. It has everything you could possibly need in it. I started off by using a mix of Whisper and Wink to soften the primer and the crease. Then I went in with the Too Faced Natural Love Palette. I kind of forget about this palette until warmer weather as it does lend itself to more natural, soft looks. I used Honey Butter in the crease to begin building depth and then Nudie to deepen it even more and to give more of a colour graduation. Once I was happy with the crease, I went back to the Tarte palette to do the outer corner. I used both Heartbreaker and Bff focused in the outer corner to create an almost smoky eye but not a harsh smoky eye. Once it had been built up and blended, I went back to the Too Faced Palette for the main bulk of my eye. I used Push Up in the centre and a mixture of Poodle and Satin Sheet on the inner corner to widen the look of the eye.

For my mascara, I am actually using two different mascaras at the moment. I start with the Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof Mascara. I actually wrote a full review on this mascara which I will link but to summarise my feelings, I liked the finish but not the massive black smudges it created around my eyes. Black smudges happen with most mascaras I use but that doesn't make them any less annoying. I use the Too Faced mascara first as I like the separation it gives plus I want to use it up. Even though I don't like it, at £19 I do not want to waste it. In order for it not to end up all over my face, I use another mascara over the top, which is my tried and tested L'Oreal Miss Baby Roll Mascara. The L'Oreal mascara was my top mascara of 2017 as it doesn't make massive black masks and it gives volume to my lashes. This stops the Too Faced mascara from getting too messy and I love the effect of using both of them.

I'm going to include brows in this section as I don't think this will be long enough to need its own section. My brows are currently beasts. I haven't had them done for a long time and I can never be bothered to pluck them myself. This means I need products to fill in my brows and keep them in place. I started by filling my brows in with the Soap and Glory 2 in 1 Brow Pencil which is my holy grail pencil. The nib of the pencil is super fine so it is easy to make hair like strokes and the colour is a good match for me. At the moment I am using the Soap and Glory Archery Brow Gel. I do prefer Benefit's Gimme Brow which had a product recall back in October and hasn't been available since. But there is good news! Benefit have announced that Gimme Brow is coming back and I for one cannot wait! The Soap and Glory brow gel is a good alternative as it has a small wand like Gimme Brow but it picks up way too much product. I feel like my brows are looking bold! I know I need to get them done but I can't be bothered and the last time I had them done it didn't go so well.

Lips Lipstick is a big part of any look for me. I love a good lipstick and lets be honest, I have a lot to choose from. On this particular day I decided it was time to try a new liquid lipstick that I had been given for my Birthday. The liquid lipstick was from Huda Beauty and it is in the shade Venus. When I first saw the shade I thought it was going to be quite pale but once I had tried it, it reminded me of Candy K from Kylie Cosmetics. I won't talk about this too much as I have just done a review on it so if you want a more depth look at the Huda Beauty Liquid Lipsticks I suggest you give that one a read. I will say that I loved the look of this colour and the overall finish. I found it made my lips look fuller which I am all about.

Not only did I want to share a Spring make up look with you but I also wanted to point out that I have finally created an Instagram for my blog! It has been a long time coming and I have definitely been a bit lazy by not having one but if you do want to give it a follow here is the link, SophaaRambles. I want to use my Instagram to show you more of me and my personal life which I think is missing from my blog.